Of course, if you are reading this, you already know that I am all about good water, quality, pure water, awesome water, and maybe you are too, but do you insist on it? For instance, when I go out to a restaurant to eat, I do not drink the water unless they have bottled water like Aquafina or Dasani or they can explain to me what type of treatment system they have. Otherwise, I don't drink it. When I spent eight (8) days in Haiti last year, I was one of only two people who didn't get sick, because I knew what type of water to drink. I know that the reverse osmosis process takes out the widest spectrum of contaminants of any water purification process, which is why I drink Dasani (which is reverse osmosis water with a few minerals added back), or Aquafina (which is just purified reverse osmosis water). Actually, I prefer Aquafina, but that's just me. Not too long ago, I was at a new bagel restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida called Brooklyn Water Bagels (which by the way, has the best bagels I have ever tasted). I was impressed that their iced coffee was made with ice cubes which was actually frozen coffee. If you want great iced coffee, it only stands to reason that the ice should also be made with coffee. Genius! They call it Cubsta and it is great:

One of the most exciting and innovative new concepts from The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. is the innovative Iced Coffee Cubsta, which is a unique and proprietary process for manufacturing and dispensing iced coffee cubes, which creates a more robust flavor to the coffee as it melts. Surrounded by a state of the art coffee bar and flavored cream dispensers, this cutting edge concept is poised to revolutionize the iced coffee market!

I mention this because obviously Brooklyn Water Bagels has figured out that better water makes better bagels and better ice (in this case - coffee) makes better iced coffee. FYI, Brooklyn Water Bagels utilizes some very sophisticated filtration, reverse osmosis, disinfection and re-mineralization to create water of exceptionally high quality.

If you have a restaurant and serve coffee or tea or soft drinks, do you realize that 98% of your product is water and that the water quality directly impacts the way your product tastes. It's no coincidence that Starbucks takes their water treatment seriously, and whether you like Starbucks coffee or not, it tastes the same in Miami, Boston, LA, Salt Lake City and Portland because all the water is the same.

Not so much with Dunkin' Donuts because they have some stores where they have ZERO water treatment. Dunkin' Donuts has some good coffee at stores where the water is treated, but sadly, not all stores have water treatment and as a result, the product varies greatly. If a restaurant that serves water, drinks and provides ice and are not treating that water, the customers (and/or critics) will eventually figure it out. Most people will choose not to drink bad tasting (or smelling) water when they have better alternatives.

Pasta and pizza tastes better when made with water that is devoid of chlorine, chemicals and high levels of total dissolved solids. This is not a secret - it's a proven fact, but sometimes people spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a restaurant and won't spend a dime on a filtration system. Silly, isn't it? They say the devil is in the details. Frequently, the successful restaurant doesn't have one "big thing" that distinguishes it from another, rather it's a hundred "little things" including good water. Today, the "hot" trend in restaurants is the mixed drinks. The average bartender is being replaced by a "mixologist" where the average drink is $$ ..yes, big dollars. There's a whole lot of mixing going on. Shakers lined up where top shelf alcohol is met with exotic flavors and mixers - the choices seem endless and the names of the drinks are as creative or classic as ever! The one thing they ALL have in common? Ice. What does the ice taste like? If the ice or water has chlorine, chloramines, chemicals, pesticides and other tastes, it changes the entire experience of what should have been fantastic to maybe not so much... food (or water) for thought if you're a professional mixologist or just a weekend home amateur...water, good water, pure water, makes good ice that equals good choice.